The Optoma Pico PK120 Pocket Projector is a tiny, low-brightness projector that can run off either AC or battery power and has decent image quality.

The Optoma Pico PK120 Pocket Projector ($200 street) is a tiny, featherweight pico projector that can operate with its included AC adapter or by battery power. Its image quality is decent enough considering the projector’s low brightness. The PK120 is a DLP-based projector rated at 18 lumens in brightest mode. It has a native nHD (640 by 360 pixels) resolution, a widescreen format with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Its LED light source has an expected lifetime of 20,000 hours.

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The projector, matte black with a silver strip on top, measures 2.8 by 4.6 by 0.8 inches—pretty much the dimensions of an iPhone, though twice as thick. The bottom has thread to fit an optional mini-tripod. (Many pico projectors, such as the Favi E1-LED-Pico [$200 street, 3.5 stars], come with such tripods.) It weighs 0.3 pounds with battery in place, and 0.5 pounds with the AC adapter. Included with the projector is an interchangeable, decorative red bezel.

It has 2GB of internal memory, expandable up to 32GB with a microSD card (not included). According to Optoma, the removable lithium-ion battery lasts 90+ minutes in standard mode, 50+ minutes in bright mode.

Apart from the microSD card slot, there’s a type B micro-USB port and a USB cable; a “universal” i/o port that fits an included VGA cable for connecting with a computer; and a jack that fits a composite a/v cable (also included) that ends in 3 RCA plugs for connection to a video source. The plugs are male, so I needed an adapter to connect them to a DVD player. The cords are all on the short side, so you'll have to keep your data or video source near the projector or use an adapter.

The audio from the PK120’s two 0.5W speakers was predictably feeble; I could barely hear it when more than a few feet away from the projector, even at full volume. Fortunately the unit has an audio-out jack for headphones or powered external speakers.

The PK120 lacks a remote. Control of the projector is through the 7 buttons on top: an on-off switch plus 6 function buttons: a circle, an X, and four arrow keys, which mostly act as symbols to access different menu choices, rather than for scrolling between menu choices. This takes a little getting used to.

This projector can show photos and other JPEG and bitmapped images, show video, play music files, and display MS Office documents either from internal memory or an SD card. You can transfer files via USB cable from the projector, which the computer should identify as a mass storage device.

Performance

I used an image about 36 inches across, which I got at roughly 8 feet from the screen. The image looked washed out when modest ambient light was present; otherwise, I did all testing in theater-dark conditions.

In testing with the DisplayMate suite, the projector came to a reasonably good (though not tack sharp) focus. In text testing, there was some blur at the two smallest sizes. Some images suffered from poor contrast between darker and lighter areas, and relatively muted colors. Considering that it’s only rated at 18 lumens, the PK120 did a decent job on our tests. As a data projector, it’s sufficient for internal business use (say in a small team meeting), but you probably wouldn’t want to use it to give presentations to potential clients.

Video was also reasonably good for a low-brightness pico projector. For the most part, colors seemed realistic, though in a couple of scenes, flesh tones seemed on the red side. To its credit, unlike many DLP-based projectors, the PK120 showed very little of the rainbow effect in which rainbow-like artifacts appear to people sensitive to the effect. There was some posterization, abrupt shifts in color in places where they should have been gradual. There also was significant loss of detail in dark scenes. You could watch a movie with it in a pinch, but probably wouldn’t want to if there’s a TV around.

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The LED light source will last an estimated 20,000 hours, so you should never have to replace bulbs. The projector is backed by a 1-year limited warranty.

The Optoma Pico PK120 Pocket Projector is highly portable, and has a good set of connections for a low-priced pico projector, more than the Favi E1-LED-Pico . Its image quality is decent, considering its low brightness, and like the Favi E1, it can run off either AC or battery power. It’s strictly for light-duty use, though; for a brighter projector with still more connection choices (including HDMI), consider the 50-lumen Optoma PK301 Pico Pocket Projector ($400 street, 4 stars).

As Analyst for printers, scanners, and projectors, Tony Hoffman tests and reviews these products and provides news coverage for these categories. Tony has worked at PC Magazine since 2004, first as a Staff Editor, then as Reviews Editor, and more recently as Managing Editor for the printers, scanners, and projectors team.
In addition to editing, Tony has written articles on digital photography and reviews of digital cameras, PCs, and iPhone apps
Prior to joining the PCMag team, Tony worked for 17 years in magazine and journal...
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